Digital Commons Network^™

Design And Construction Of A Fluidized Bed, Robert Ryan Mota

Theses and Dissertations

Coal combustion is responsible for the majority of electricity production in the United States. It is however, also the primary cause for carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming. With oil reaching its peak production in the near future, alternative fuel sources will be needed to meet the worlds growing energy demands. Coal is an abundant resource that has the potential to meet those demands. In contrast to coal combustion, coal gasification only partially oxidizes the coal to produce a syngas containing of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which means less carbon dioxide emissions. Utilizing coal in gasification technologies is …

Heat Transfer Measurements On An Incidence-Tolerant Low Pressure Turbine Blade In A High Speed Linear Cascade At Low To Moderate Reynolds Numbers, Leolein Patrick Gouemeni Moualeu

Theses and Dissertations

Runway-independent aircraft are expected to be the future for short-haul flights by improving

air transportation and reducing area congestion encountered in airports. The Vehicle

Systems Program of NASA identified a Large Civil Tilt-Rotor, equipped with variable-speed

power-turbine engines, as the best concept. At cruise altitude, the engine rotor-speed will

be reduced by as much as the 50% of take-off speed. The large incidence variation in the

low pressure turbine associated with the change in speed can be detrimental to the engine

performance. Low pressure turbine blades in cruise altitude are more predisposed to develop

regions of boundary layer separation. Typical …

Family Factors And Perceived Coworker Support And Supervisor Support, Sara Narveson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how aspects of family formation relate to coworker support and supervisor support. Studying both coworker support and supervisor support is valuable because they can give us a glimpse of how different people feel about the workplace. Using the theoretical perspective of homophily, which focuses on how people prefer to interact with others who are similar to themselves, it was hypothesized that people who are married or who have children will perceive more coworker support and supervisor support than others. The data set of the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce was used. It contained 3,368 cases …

Financial Development And Human Development In The European Union, Sasa Ostojic

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between finance and economic growth is often studied using GDP per capita growth. This paper aims to focus on the richness of human life, not the richness of the economy. Thus, the Human Development Index is used to test the relationship between financial development and human development. By focusing on a sample limited to the European Union, the many criticisms associated with the use of an index can be mitigated. At this moment there is not a universally accepted measure of financial development. Use of measures from past literature allowed for consistency with past works. The results show …

Effects Of The Seed Bank And Interseeding In Reconstructed Tallgrass Prairies, Stephen C. Rossiter

Theses and Dissertations

Disturbances such as fire and mowing temporarily increase available resources for plants, opening a window of opportunity for establishment. During the recovery of vegetation after disturbance in remnant prairies, seedling establishment is often negligible compared to vegetative regrowth. It is unclear if this is the case in reconstructions. I tested the contribution of seedlings to diversity after disturbance in two, 25-year-old, low diversity reconstructed prairies by removing seedlings, allowing seedlings, and adding seed in 1 m2 plots. Disturbance frequency effects were tested by clipping each treatment zero, one, or multiple times. After two growing seasons, in the wetter field site, …

Grassland Songbird Response To Landscape Composition And Vegetation In Northeastern And East-Central North Dakota, Dustin James Vanthuyne

Theses and Dissertations

Grassland songbirds are declining faster and more consistently than other avifauna of North America. This has resulted in many species being placed on state and federal lists as species of concern. These declines can be linked to former and current land use practices which have resulted in an extensive loss of habitat. Natural resource agencies are trying to offset these habitat losses by reconstructing grasslands formerly cropped areas and protecting remaining grassland tracts. Few studies have addressed how the location in the landscape and vegetation composition of these reconstructions affects grassland birds. This thesis describes data collected from 32 locations …

Pregnancy, Sexism, And The Greek System, Taylor Marie Walkky

Theses and Dissertations

Both hostile and benevolent sexism have been found to correlate with attitudes related to pregnancy (Terrell et al, in prep). Benevolent and hostile sexism have both been shown to correlate with attitudes towards sorority members as well (Walkky, unpublished). The goal of the present study was to expand on the knowledge of how sexism relates to pregnancy attitudes, especially how it relates to sorority membership. Participants read a scenario about a college woman, who was either in a sorority or not, who had just discovered that she was pregnant. In the scenario, she chose to either end the pregnancy, continue …

Variations Of E-Region Total Electron Content And Electron Density Profiles Over High Latitudes During Winter Solstice 2007 Using Radio Occultation Measurements, Kajli Agrawal

Theses and Dissertations

The space weather phenomenon involves the Sun, interplanetary space and the Earth. Different space weather conditions have diverse effects on the various layers of the Earth's atmosphere Technological advancements have created a situation in which human civilization is not only dependent on resources from deep inside the Earth, but also on the upper atmosphere and outer space region. Therefore, it is essential to improve the understanding of the impacts of space weather conditions on the ionosphere. This research focuses on the variation of total electron content (TEC) and the electron density within the E-region of the ionosphere, which extends from …

Climate Change And Ragweed Allergy Risk Assessment: A Study Of The Grand Forks Metropolitan Statistical Area, Shumila Rani Ahmad

Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays the association between anthropogenic climate change and public health is in the early stages of universal recognition. Yet one fundamental aspect that remains largely unappreciated is the impact of climate change on ragweed (Ambrosia species) biology and the ensuing pathophysiology of human systems. Ragweed pollen is one of the primary causes of seasonal pollen allergy in the world. Allergic reactions to ragweed pollen can range from mild hay fever to life-threatening asthma attacks. The aim of this thesis was to conduct a ragweed allergy risk assessment for the Grand Forks ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

The study area is …

The Effect Of Birth Order On Age At First Sex And Total Number Of Lifetime Sexual Partners, Lacey Christine Clark Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of birth order is expansive and has been used to explain many social processes, including the sexual behavior of young adults. However, results regarding the influence of birth order on risky sexual behavior are somewhat limited, sometimes contradictory, and often lack generalizability to larger populations. In this thesis, using

data from the National Health and Social Life Survey (1992) and multiple regression techniques, I investigate the influence of ordinal position on two measures of sexual behavior,age at first sex and total number of lifetime partners, among young adults age 18 to 30. Results show that birth …

Josephson Currents In Two-Gap Superconductor-Insulator- Superconductor Junctions, Ladan Bahrainirad

Theses and Dissertations

As a way to investigate the transport property of superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junction with two-gap superconductors such as MgB2 and iron superconductors, we study the microscopic structure of the Josephson current in a tunnel junction with a very narrow quasi-classical barrier. Also, the possibility of mid-gap states in two-gap superconductor is investigated, and their effects on the current-phase relation as well as the current density characteristics are studied. In the SIS break junction, mid-gap states appear at the Superconductor-Insulator interfaces due to an abrupt change in the superconducting order parameter, indicating that the two-gap superconductor SIS junction can yield a rich …

Elizabeth I And The Policy Of Marriage: The Anjou Match, 1572-1582, Aryn Elizabeth Bell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will explore how Queen Elizabeth I of England's use of interdynastic marriage negotiations as an essential component to the successful implementation of her foreign policy objectives. Many historians continue to debate whether a distinct foreign policy actually existed from the onset of Elizabeth's reign. While some contend that the queen had no policy in place, I suggest, that while it was not an active, aggressive policy, it did, in fact, exist. So the question becomes not whether she had a policy but how it was implemented. Using her unique role as an unwed female monarch, Elizabeth understood the …

The Impact Of The Perceptions Of Fathering On Adult Children's Emotional Well-Being And Satisfaction With Life, Abraham John Bilyeu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine how perceptions of one's father figure impacted reported levels of depression, anxiety, stress, alexithymia, and satisfaction with life. Participants reported that as negative perceptions of their father figure increased so did reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Further, negative perceptions of one's father figure were negatively correlated with life satisfaction, such that as negative perceptions of father increased ones reported satisfaction with life decreased. Participant age was also positively correlated with perceptions of their father, whereas age increased, so did a positive view of one's father figure. When the Attitude …

Preparation And Characterization Of Meridionally Trischelated Rhenium(I) Terpyridine Dicarbonyl Complexes, Daniel Black

Theses and Dissertations

Recent work has uncovered a synthetic route to a new series of meridionally coordinated tridentate terpyridine rhenium dicarbonyl complexes. The complex mer,cis-Re(tpy-κ3N)(CO)₂Cl (1) undergoes facile chloride substitution to produce a variety of complexes of the type mer,cis-[Re(tpy-κ3N)(CO)₂(L)]n, where L = CF₃SO₃ (2), CH₃CN (3), CN (4), NC₅H₅ (5), PMe₃ (6), PEt₃ (7), PPh₃ (8), P(OMe)₃ (9), P(OEt)₃ (10), P(OPh)₃ (11) ), P(OiPr)₃ (12), P(OMe)(Ph)₂ (13). Complexes 1-13 absorb light throughout a significant portion of the visible spectrum. The electrochemistry of …

Professional Socialization In Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs: Attitudes And Beliefs Of Faculty Members And Recent Graduates, Kevin Buettner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to better understand professional socialization in nurse anesthesia educational programs through an exploration of the attitudes and beliefs of faculty members and recent graduates. Participants for this cross-sectional, quasi-experimental online study included a convenience sample of 178 nurse anesthesia faculty members and 399 recent graduates of nurse anesthesia educational programs in the United States. Measures in this study explored the importance, recent graduate preparation, and influence on professional socialization outcomes (e.g., professional development, scholarly activity/critical inquiry, professional ethics, and professional and social responsibility). The effect of cohort size and instructional delivery method were also …

Characterization Of Evaporative Metal Bonding In Superalloys For Use In Gasified Coal Turbine Generators, Joshua Elliot Braband

Theses and Dissertations

The diffusion bonding of Kanthal APMT, CM247LC, and Rene 80 was studied. The objective of the first part of this work was to create diffusion bonded test samples of Kanthal APMT, CM247LC, and Rene 80 using a 25μm thick zinc interlayer at varying times and temperatures. Then, using scanning electron microscopy to determine the profile of the zinc diffusing into the parent materials, the diffusion coefficients of the zinc interlayer into the materials were determined for each of the materials at each bonding time and temperature. The next objective was to create a finite element model of the bonding process …

Experimental Investigation Of The Effect Of Turbulence On Slot-Fed Film Cooling Adiabatic Effectiveness And Downstream Heat Transfer, Mitch Busche

Theses and Dissertations

Modern turbine designers are greatly concerned with power out and the efficiency of their engines. One way to increase the power output and effectiveness of the engine is to increase the hot gas temperature inside the combustion chamber. The hot gas can reach a temperature that exceeds the physical limitations of parts inside the engine, causing the parts to fail prematurely. One possible method to cool the parts is with the use film cooling. Film cooling takes cool air from the compressor, bypasses the combustor, and ducts the air to internal chambers of parts, and then ejects the cool air …

It's In Minnesota's Nature: An Exploration Into Building Social Capital Through Place Branding, Alyssa Michelle Chandler

Theses and Dissertations

Place branding is a growing practice in communities worldwide. While much academic research has been conducted on the subject, the majority is directed toward the study of tourist perceptions. Research on those living in a branded community is limited. Therefore, this study seeks to explore how a place brand could build or strengthen social capital among residents of a location through a shared representation of a community's identity. A case study was conducted in Grand Rapids, Minnesota where 30 residents were interviewed from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Through the lens of the seven community capitals, discussed in Flora and Flora (2009), …

Comparison Of Denitrification Potential Around A Tile Drain And In Aquifer Sediments: Oakes, Nd, Chase Christenson

Theses and Dissertations

Denitrification, the microbial reduction of nitrate (NO₃-) in groundwater, has three requirements: limited oxygen, bacteria capable of mediating the reaction, and electron donors for the bacteria to use in the redox reactions. The critical factor for aquifer denitrification is the concentrations of electron donors. Without an adequate supply of electron donors, bacteria cannot reduce concentrations of either oxygen or NO₃-.

Artificial drainage within agricultural areas may allow contaminants to bypass, or increase conveyance through, reduced areas in which denitrification is likely to occur. This contributes to elevated NO₃- yields as it is discharged directly …

Development And Outcomes Of An Experientially-Based Nonverbal Social Skills Curriculum For Youth With Visual Impairments, Rebecca J. Cicha

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of social skills training for youth with visual impairments has been widely researched within educational and rehabilitation settings. To date, social skills training curricula for visually impaired youth have largely utilized verbally-based methods for instruction and training. Given the non-visual aspects of human communication, it is proposed that verbal approaches to nonverbal social skills training may not be sufficient for visually impaired individuals. To address this issue, an experiential curriculum of nonverbal social skills training was developed that emphasized hands-on learning and practice of nonverbal social skills. This curriculum was administered to seventeen visually impaired youth attending short-term …

Optimization Of The Garch Model Parameters Using A Genetic Algorithm, Jonathon Patrick Cummings

Theses and Dissertations

Financial time series are often characterized by nonlinearity and volatility bunching. Standard regression analysis models cannot capture changing volatilities, potentially leading to erroneous results. The need to more completely model the characteristic volatilities inherent to financial time series eventually led to the creation of the GARCH model. Typical GARCH parameters are (1,1) incorporating a 1-period lag of the regression residual as well as a 1-period lag of the regression volatility. The primary question investigated in this paper is whether the typical GARCH(1,1) parameters are in fact optimal over all time periods and attempts to improve on the typical parameters by …

Determination Of Optimum Polymer Dose For Grand Forks Wastewater Treatment Plant Lagoon Sludge Dewatering, Dipesh Das

Theses and Dissertations

The Grand Forks Waste Water Treatment Plant (GFWWTP) is currently sending its waste activated sludge (WAS) from the activated sludge treatment process to an existing on-site wastewater treatment lagoon which has been in operation since 2003. The plant produces approximately 65,000 gallons of WAS per day. Because of this high level of loading, the existing lagoon system is no longer considered as a treatment option for the produced sludge. The Plant Authority is trying to find a sustainable solution for sludge disposal and for this reason the GFWWTP is interested in introducing screw press system for the dewatering process. As …

Does Google Search Data Aid In Predicting Unemployment?, Brennan Dyk

Theses and Dissertations

The unemployment rate is typically forecasted in the literature using initial claims for unemployment, a lagged value of unemployment, and an autoregressive component. This paper looks to improve upon existing models by adding Google search data to traditional models using initial claims or replacing initial claims with Google searches. One hypothesis is that Google searches may improve forecast accuracy due to employees knowing or getting a sense when they may become unemployed and be searching for jobs prior to filing for unemployment. Study of this is important to improve the accuracy of models and to provide more accurate out-of-sample forecasts …

Seasonal Resource Selection, Site-Specific Brood Predictors, And Nest Characteristics Of Greater Prairie-Chicken Hens In Northwestern Minnesota, Nathaniel Emery

Theses and Dissertations

Greater prairie-chickens, Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus, are in decline across the majority of their already receding range due to changing land use patterns and habitat fragmentation. The Agassiz Beach Ridge region of northwestern Minnesota harbors one of the only sustained to increasing populations of prairie-chickens in the country due to the conversion of marginal agricultural lands to grasslands and through conservation entities securing tracts of land allowing for habitat stability and dispersal.

Nesting and brood-rearing habitats are the most limiting factors for population sustainability. Hens were marked with radio transmitters on booming grounds and at nest sites discovered by nest-dragging. Their …

An Investigation Of Climate Patterns On Earth-Like Planets Using The Nasa Giss Global Climate Model Ii, Robert Mark Elowitz

Theses and Dissertations

To determine the capability of NASA's GISS GCM-II global climate model, the user-friendly EdGCM interface to the 3-D climate model code was evaluated by simulating global climate patterns that Earth-like planets may experience. The simulation scenarios involved different greenhouse gas emissions trends, planetary orbital parameters, and solar irradiance variations. It is found that the EdGCM interface to the GCM-II 3-D climate model is capable of studying climate patterns on hypothetical Earth-like planets, with some limitations involved. Studying extreme climate patterns on Earth-like planets as a function of planetary obliquity, orbital eccentricity, atmospheric composition, solar irradiance variations, and location with the …

The Collision Of Romanticism And Modernism In Post-World War Ii American Cinema: A Theoretical Defense Of Intellectual History In The Undergraduate Classroom, Daniel Hunter Ferris

Theses and Dissertations

The post-World War II era in the United States, which ran from 1945 to 1970, has long been divided into two distinct periods; the late 1940s and 1950s and the 1960s. Out of this separation has come a view of the late 1940s and 1950s as a time dominated by a conservative conformist culture that did little to rival pre-war norms. On the other hand, the 1960s have come to be seen as a decade that witnessed true social revolution and thus should be considered responsible for shaping the social and cultural landscape of late twentieth-century America. While these views …

Historical Hydroclimatic Change At Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 1895 - 2011, Rhonda Jan Fietzek-Devries

Theses and Dissertations

Although numerous studies have examined hydroclimatic and climatic changes in our national parks, no previous studies have examined historical temperature, precipitation and hydroclimatic changes at Theodore Roosevelt National Park (South Unit). Documenting historical trends in temperature, precipitation and hydroclimatic variables is important for understanding present and future changes in vegetation and wildlife.

I used 117 (1895 - 2011) years of temperature and precipitation data obtained from the PRISM data network to construct the historical climatic water budget time series based upon the Thornthwaite water-budget model. Trend lines and descriptive statistics are used to analyze the monthly, seasonal and annual climatic …

Epigenetic Patterns: Process-Driven Or Sequence-Driven?, Amanda Gefroh

Theses and Dissertations

Some of the most rapidly-evolving fields of study in the medical and research communities presently are those which investigate our genetic code, the elements and factors that control the expression of our genetic code, as well as fields of study which analyze theories about an organisms' physiology and phenotype from the information that both of the previous topics concomitantly provide. The work of the Milavetz lab, among many others, is striving to fill the gaps in knowledge about epigenetic regulation of biological processes - here by using the well-suited model virus, Simian Virus 40. It has for some time now …

Rural North Dakota's Oil Boom, The Impact On Social Services, And The Implications For The Social Work Profession, Julia C. Geigle

Theses and Dissertations

Technological developments within the oil and gas industry (namely horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking") combined with record-high average oil prices have propelled North Dakota into the midst of the nation's largest oil boom in decades. Information about the boom has been dominated by the media, while scholarly attention--especially about the social impacts--has been unfortunately limited. Accordingly, the author (an MSW student) and two professors with the Department of Social Work at the University of North Dakota conducted a focus group with the state's county social service directors to explore the pressures and challenges faced by the social service …

Effects Of Instructor Continuity On A Large-Scale Pilot Training Program, Erik Michael Goff

Theses and Dissertations

In a large-scale pilot training program, like those run by the United States Air Force, Navy or many civilian colleges, quality of instruction is a very important question. These programs will have large numbers of instructors and students, but the effect of flying a student with a large number of different instructors is unknown. This paper will use continuous performance and failure data to see if there is a relationship between flying with too many instructors and failing or scoring poorly on a checkride. Multiple regression, difference in differencing, and probit analysis will be used to explore this question.